Redstate

You have been carrying around your backpack of privilege all your life not facing down the power of the white patriarchy . . . ;-)

More seriously, I think it speaks volumes about our therapeutic and race obsessed culture that this is how we respond to this type of thing. These people can say obscene and offensive things for decades and nothing much is made of it. But touch on race and suddenly the whole country needs to work through its issues. It is all about hurt feelings and apologies instead of the fact that Imus is simply doing what he has always done: say stupid offensive things.

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Kevin Holtsberry
www.kevinholtsberry.com

...African-Americans who call women "hos" and use the n-word, I'll continue to decry the double standard, and to change the channel (or the radio station) any time something as dumb as this is brought up or discussed.

I disagree that laughing it off or sucker punching Imus are the only two reasonable choices here. You set up an artificial dichotomy. (Which is a nifty way to create a column's structure, for sure.)

You ignore the presence of the many bigoted people out there who delighted in Imus' remarks, some of whom will think of that team in the terms he used for the rest of their bigoted lives.

The coach and the ladies did what was by far the best thing, with regard to the rest of *their* lives. The ladies learned that you do not have just the two choices to either ignore bad things *or* blow them up.

As for Imus, I've never seen or heard him, and probably never will.

being demeaned, belittled, dismissed or direspected until it quits supporting those within itself, like the rap and hiphop cultures, who set its lowest standards by doing those very things.

Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.

is a horrible failure...

Well, yeah, sort of. The saddest part of the whole affair is that this will get more attention for the womens' team than winning the championship ever will, since womens basketball gets much less attention than mens. C'est la vie.

On the other hand, maybe the ladies deserve a chance to respond. Maybe this is a bad stage for the reply, but would they get another stage? I doubt it.

Yesterday on Fox, Fred Barnes made a great statement. The women should not feel "scarred for life". They should hold their heads up in pride and answer Imus from the position of victory instead of victimhood. After all, what greater achievement is possible for the basketball team than winning the championship?

What should have been, at the very least, 15 minutes of fame for some great athletes has turned into a month of publicity for Imus.

Go figure.

cheesed at Imus for his comments. Losing sucks. Coming up short in a championship game couldn't feel good and they were trying to at least feel the joy of a great run when Imus chimed in.

Having said that, the rest of this is overkill. Kissing the ring of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton is just stupid, look at their histories.

As a military officer, I applaud the Rutgers' basketball coach.

I can completely understand the Rutgers' coach's feelings. When you lead people and you are a good leader, you bond with them. In many ways, you become one. You feel their pleasure and to quote Bill Clinton, you feel their pain.

She is also black and female, I'm sure she has experienced some level of hate because of her skin tone. I'm sure she has had to prove herself because of her sex, more than a man would have. Because she is black and female, she probably tries to protect her players from the pain she's experienced.

I will admit, I didn't hear what she said, but from what I've read, she was defending all of her women, not only the black ones.

Short of shooting Imus, I don't think its possible for her to overreact. She is defending her players, all of them.

This discussion is exactly why Imus should not be fired. A free society, even one that is free to hate, is the best way to solve societal problems.

Have you ever been hounded by the NY and national media? The press conference was as much to make their feelings known as it was to get the media leeches to leave them alone.

You'll note they were also careful not to pass judgement on what would or wouldn't be appropriate 'punishment'. This whole event was a media feeding frenzy. Had it happened in the age prior to 24/7 cable news/talk it never would have come to this.

Rant Street! www.rant.st

I sent this to Mike & Mike on ESPNRadio Wednesday morning:
"Mike & Mike,
Imus, in the least, is an idiot. What he said just made me shake my head, but I wasn’t surprised by it. This is the easy part. The fall out is where I’m torn. I’m not black and I’m not a woman, so my perspective on this may not matter. Does Imus, or what he said, deserve this much reflection? He apologized, though apologies these days can be taken with a grain of salt. Give Imus credit for not needing to go into rehab. Also, he’s been suspended, even if that wasn’t immediate, so punishment has been meted out. This incident, then, should be over. Yet it lingers. It has continued to the point where Imus nearly played the victim card himself, in his interview with Al Sharpton.

"I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was put off by the Rutgers news conference and coach Vivian Stringer. Coach Stringer was speaking about not letting others make you a victim, yet, here was the Rutgers women’s basketball team – the national runner ups – being the victim. Are these women victims – in the truest sense of the word? Or, are they above this? If the team wants to meet with Imus, that’s their choice. Personally, I think they should have shrugged their shoulders and laughed it off as some idiot joke made by some old, has-been, white radio shock jock. No need to give Imus any more publicity or any more room to whine about his reputation.

"Mike Greenberg, this is to the comments you made on the program this morning: do you really believe these women are powerless and defenseless? I cannot imagine any of those players accepting such a description. These women do have the power and the ability to defend themselves. They are choosing to meet with Imus and find understanding in his words. I think ignoring him would be more prudent. The man just isn’t that important."
R.J.